Escape
by Mrs.GingerHinkley
Summary: When Bellatrix Lestrange escapes from Azkaban, Tonks fears for her family's safety, haunted by a past memory of her aunt. Andromeda is torn between her own memories and reality. Mother and daughter must come to accept their position in a dangerous world.


Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter series.

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Tonks crept into her parent's house as quietly as possible. She locked the door securely behind her, careful to add a few extra protections of her own. The kitchen was dark but for the moonlight streaming in through the window. Tonks felt her way through the darkness, not wishing to wake up her parents. However, this was rather pointless as she stumbled over seemingly every object in the room.

After sending a chair toppling noisily to the floor with a crash, Tonks sat on the floor nursing her ankle, cursing under her breath. She was too tired to even stumble to her bedroom. Her eyes ached and her mood was bitter. It was nearing three in the morning after an emergency meeting of the Order had been called by Kingsley Shacklebolt.

They had gathered frantically, fearful of the worst kind of news. And he had brought it with his usual somber manner. A mass breakout from Azkaban had just reached the ears of top ministry officials, and of course, the Daily Prophet. It was a heavy blow to the safety and morale of those close to the goals of the Order as names such as Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, and other known Death Eaters surfaced. But it was the face of the witch plastered ferociously, front and center, on the advanced print of the Prophet that Tonks saw most vividly. Bellatrix Lestrange. Her aunt. Her mother's sister.

Upon hearing the news, Tonks had immediately thought of her family's safety. Her mother had refrained from joining the Order rather wisely, Tonks thought. But now, even without the connection to the Order, her mother was in just as much danger, if not more. Tonks had a nagging fear that her mother would be one of the first Bellatrix would seek, with a vengeance that had grown steadily in Azkaban. Tonks shivered slightly at the thought of a dark haired lunatic arriving at the doorstep, knocking politely, her mother opening the door unknowingly.

Sighing, Tonks pushed the thought from her head as she stood up slowly. She would do everything in her power to make sure her parents were safe. And after all, her mother was not stupid. She knew better than her daughter the wrath of Bellatrix. Nevertheless, Tonks searched around for the Prophet before walking to her room. She could only imagine how her mother would take the news. Tonks thought that perhaps she might slip it into conversation more tactfully than the Prophet could.

The end of her wand glowed softly as Tonks tiptoed through the hallway. She stopped briefly as the light caught one of the pictures that sat in a dark corner on an unnaturally neat desk.

Three teenage girls, each very beautiful in their own right, sat in a lavish garden. They sat, seeming unaware that a picture was being taken. Her mother sat in the middle, braiding her youngest sister's golden hair as she looked over at her elder sister, the similarities ever apparent, with a smile. Bellatrix seemed to be laughing at something Andromeda had just said. As she threw her head back gleefully, her hair fell from her shoulders, cascading down her back. Narcissa picked at a nearby daisy while her sister's hands wove through her hair with a certain expertise. And, Tonks noticed miserably, her mother looked at perfect ease with her sisters. In fact she looked the happiest Tonks had ever seen her.

Tonks didn't understand why her mother kept the picture, while it tainted the hallway as a constant reminder to her tie to such a family. Fighting the urge to blow it to pieces, Tonks slammed the frame, picture side down, on the desk. But the image of three very happy sisters wouldn't leave her mind. Once or twice before, Tonks had caught her mother looking, almost longingly, at the picture before noticing her daughter's stare. She would then give Tonks a stern look that warded off any possible questions as Tonks quickly looked away.

Tonks did the same now; turning away to walk into her room so that she could finally sleep. But even after she had flopped onto the bed, sleep wouldn't come. Worry seemed to soak throw the sheets, wrapping around Tonks. She tossed and turned, trying to shirk off distant memories. But they crept up around her, hissing in her ear. Slowly she sank into a sort of sleep that was haunted by the most vivid of the memories.

_The heat of summer was gradually subsiding into the coolness of autumn. The air was crisp and smelled faintly of wet leaves and pumpkin juice. Magic seemed to linger in every corner in the crowded streets of Diagon Alley._

"_Stay close, Nymphadora," Andromeda said, giving her daughter's hand a squeeze._

_But the five year old Tonks was barely listening to her mother. She gazed around at the shops that lined the street in wonder and awe. Cloaked men and women squeezed past Tonks, occasionally smiling down upon her or stopping to say hello to her mother. It was difficult to hold onto her mother's hand as they seemed to be moving against the stream of the crowd and Tonks wanted to stop every four seconds to look at every pretty object that filled the windows of the shops._

"_Mummy! Look at that pretty owl!" Tonks exclaimed, now stopping in front of Eeylops Owl Emporium._

_She watched the bird ruffle its feathers for a moment before turning to see what her mother thought of the creature. But her mom wasn't there. Tonks glanced around the store front fruitlessly before accepting the fact that she had lost her mother. She chewed on her lip anxiously while she made her way through the thick mass of people._

_She called out her mother's name, searching and searching, but to no avail. Tonks was beginning to become very worried, her five-year-old heart pounding nervously. The wizards and witches she passed seemed to get taller and taller, more ominous by the second as none of them were her mother._

_Finally, relief filled her as she saw her mother lingering outside of the apothecary. Tonks ran up to her as fast as her little legs could carry her, throwing her arms around her mother's waist eagerly._

"_Mummy!" Tonks exclaimed, clutching her mother's robes as a sort of safety blanket. "You forgot to wait for me when we walked past the place with the owls!"_

_She looked up at her mother indignantly; her lower lip in a practiced pout, only to find that it was not her mother at all._

_The woman looked down at Tonks with a cold unfamiliarity. _

"_Let go of my robes," she said sternly, shaking off the crestfallen Tonks._

"_I'm sorry," Tonks mumbled, very close to tears, "I just thought you were my mum. You look an awful lot like her. And well, I don't know where she is…"_

_The woman scoffed._

_Tonks was afraid but pressed on hopefully, "I've lost her… well, she's lost me, I guess. But maybe you can help me find her?"_

_The woman laughed. "Do you really think I feel like walking around Diagon Alley with some four year old who doesn't know where her mummy is?"_

"_I'm five," Tonks muttered angrily as hot tears hit her cheek._

_The woman raised an eyebrow at Tonks. She seemed to stare into the little girl's dark brown eyes for a long time before asking slowly, "Did you say that I looked like your mother?"_

_Tonks met the woman's face excitedly. "Oh yes! Well, at least from the back."_

_The woman looked down upon Tonks with a mixture of curiosity and dawning._

"_What's your mother's name, sweetie," she asked in a voice that lacked any hint of maternal gentility._

"_Andro-" Tonks managed, struggling over the difficult syllables of her mother's name._

"_-meda?" the woman finished with a smug smile that curved into a malicious grin._

_Tonks nodded swiftly._

"_Then you must be…" the woman thought for a moment, "Nymphadora..."_

_The tips of Tonks's hair turned bright red for an instant, but the woman did not seem to notice. _

"_What an unusual name for a half-blood… I suppose your mudblood of a father had a bit of difficulty swallowing that one," the woman chuckled darkly._

_Tonks covered her mouth with her hands before whispering, "Don't use that word! Mummy says it's not very nice."_

_The woman seemed to snarl before retorting, "Your traitorous mother would say that, wouldn't she. I can only imagine the blotched code of honor she feeds you…"_

_Tonks no longer felt any sort of security in the woman, however much she looked like her mom. "How do you know what my mummy would say? She'd probably say you weren't a very nice lady if she'd ever met you."_

_The woman's lips twitched into a faint smile before she scowled down at the child. _

"_You really don't know who I am?" she asked, both amused and insulted. _

_Tonks shook her head with a frown._

_The woman knelt down so that she was eye level with Tonks. "Why, I'm your Auntie Bellatrix, dear."_

_Tonks continued to frown in confusion._

"_It means I'm your mother's sister, stupid girl," Bellatrix hissed._

_Tonks began to cry quietly, fat tears rolling down her face._

_Bellatrix looked at the tears with disgust. "Don't make a scene, you little baby."_

_She pulled Tonks forcefully into an empty side street; Tonks tripping to the ground in the process. More tears welled up in the child's eyes as she began to whimper softly._

_Bellatrix knelt down next to her niece swiftly; she hated the sound of crying._

_Tonks flinched noticeably as her aunt wiped the tears from her face roughly, Bellatrix's long, blood-red nails scratching Tonks's skin._

"_Don't cry," Bellatrix cooed softly, "You aren't very pretty when you cry…"_

_Tonks only sobbed harder. She wanted her mother. She struggled away from her aunt, kicking and thrashing until she was finally free._

_Bellatrix growled angrily before stunning the run-away child._

"_MUMMY!" Tonks wailed at the top of her lungs as Bellatrix scooped her up with ease, holding the child at her side._

"_Shut up, you silly brat," Bellatrix whispered, brushing off the child's traveling cloak. "Don't you know to listen to adults? Or didn't your filthy mother teach you any manners?"_

_Tonks squealed again._

"_Silencio…" Bellatrix said, "Your mother can't hear you, darling."_

"_Oh yes she can!" Andromeda shrieked, from behind. _

_Bellatrix whipped around in shock, but smiled as she stepped out of the shadows to face her sister. _

"_Bellatrix," Andromeda said in the most commanding voice she could muster, "give me back my daughter."_

_Tonks squirmed to look around imploringly at her mother, but Bellatrix tightened her grip on the child, forcing her to turn away from her mother._

"_Afraid I can't, Andy," Bellatrix sneered, looking absolutely delighted. "You see, I was just about to teach her some manners. But perhaps you could use a lesson too."_

_Andromeda shook with anger. "My daughter, Bella, give her to me."_

_Bellatrix laughed softly as she looked into the child's terror-filled face.  
"I really don't think you're in a position to make threats, Andy," she said, running her finger down the bridge of her niece's nose._

"_You are so childish!" Andromeda spat, her wand quivering._

_Bellatrix smiled at her sister's outrage. "Funny," she laughed, but there was nothing humorous about her voice. "Keep it up and you'll be childless."_

_Andromeda dove at her sister as Bellatrix disapperated with the five-year-old Tonks. Andromeda had just managed to grab hold of her sister's cloak, landing with a thud in the field where her sister held her daughter._

_Andromeda had barely pulled herself off the ground when the spell hit her._

"_CRUCIO!"_

_Tonks was screaming as her mother's body twisted oddly, flopping on the ground like a dying fish._

"_Make it stop, please!" Tonks wailed as her mother howled in pain._

_Bellatrix flicked her wand once more and Andromeda moaned softly. Turning her back to her sister, Bellatrix looked into the pleading eyes of her little niece. _

"_Do you love your mother, Nymphadora?" _

_Tonks looked over Bellatrix's shoulder, watching her mom struggle to stand up as she panted, her face soaked with sweat, her hair sticking out haphazardly._

"_I wish I could love your mother…" Bellatrix simpered gently, "Do you know why I can't? It's because of you and your unworthy father!"_

_Tonks had been thrown carelessly onto the ground as Bellatrix raised her wand high above her head._

"_Cru-"_

"_EXPELIARMUS!" Andromeda screamed._

_Bellatrix was livid as her wand flew from her hand. Andromeda pointed her wand straight at Bellatrix's heart. Like a madman, Bellatrix seized Tonks, thrusting the child in front of her, as a shield. _

_Tonks whimpered as her mother's wand was lowered with trembling hands._

"_Very good, Andy," Bellatrix taunted, "We both know what a tragic loss it'd be if you killed your own daughter. Much worse than killing your own sister…"_

_Tonks tried to wrestle her arms out of her captor's hands, but Bellatrix's grip was surprising powerful, her nails cutting into Tonks's skin._

_Andromeda circled Bellatrix and her daughter warily, her wand raised once more._

_Bellatrix shifted Tonksperiodically so that Andromeda never had a clear shot at her sister. With a terrible smirk plastered on her face, Bellatrix assured Tonks, "There, there, your mother wouldn't harm a hair on your pretty little head…" Tonks winced as Bellatrix ruffled her hair playfully. "But I, on the other hand, am not your mother."_

_Bellatrix gave a sort of laugh as the hair underneath her fingers turned from a soft brown to a violent shade of red._

"_A metamorphmagus? How amusing…" Bellatrix whispered, teasing her niece's hair in a sickeningly sweet way._

_Tonks let out a yelp of pain as Bellatrix pulled her hair so hard that Tonks fell back closer to her aunt, to protect her, to be used as a shield._

"_Stop this nonsense, Andy," Bellatrix snarled. "There are, after all, ways to kill without magic."_

_Her fingers danced around the five-year-old's throat._

"_What do you want from me, Bella?" Andromeda whispered hysterically._

_Bellatrix cackled wildly as she pushed Tonkstowards Andromedawith incredible force. As Andromeda leapt upon her daughter, Bellatrix had snatched up her wand, suddenly very deadly._

"_From you, sister," Bellatrix leered, her face alive with revenge, "Blood."_

_Everything seemed to go black as Tonks heard her mother and aunt screaming. The noises were filled with intolerable pain and rage._ _And then it became a gentle tapping, as if everything had been muted._

Tonks realized that someone was knocking on her door. She didn't know where she was, if she was still five years old, or if she was in any danger. Her hand throbbed but she remained rigidly still as the knocking continued.

"Are you alright in there?" her mother's voice asked. "Nymphadora, please open up. I thought I heard something break; are you ok?"  
Tonks regained her senses slowly as the present came back to her as her mother opened her bedroom door.

"Nymphadora?" her mother asked quietly.

As her mother turned on the light, Tonks looked up groggily to protest the end to her sleep. Suddenly, her mom gave a terrible, frightened shriek.

Tonks, who during her sleep had been hanging off the side of her bed, fell off the mattress onto the hard floor.

"Ouch," she grumbled. "Where's my wand? What's happened?"

But her voice trailed off as she looked up at her mom who was standing over her with her wand pointed straight into her eyes.

"Blimey, Mum. What a wakeup call."

Andromeda looked highly confused, but beneath the confusion was a distinct loathing.

"You…" she hissed.

Tonks looked at her mom warily as she picked up her wand from her dresser.

"You ok there, Mum?" she asked, rubbing her aching head. But as she rubbed her head, her hair felt odd beneath her fingers. It wasn't the short, soft, and spiky hair she had expected. Her hair was thick and curly, and certainly not short.

Tonks walked slowly over to her mirror as her mom continued to point her wand threateningly.

"Oh, damn…" Tonks muttered as she looked into the mirror. She realized why her mom had been so terrified. It seemed that overnight she had taken on the appearance of the very person she had dreamed about.

With a shiver, her hair became shorter, now adopting a muted sort of pink. Her face now her own, she turned to her mother apologetically.

Andromeda lowered her wand slowly as she clutched her heart.

"Nymphadora," she said weakly. "I thought… Oh, goodness…"

Tonks made her way over to her mother, noticing grimly that the hand not holding her wand was white around a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"I just read it… and then I saw _her_… in your room… and I didn't see you," she whispered incoherently. "I thought perhaps that she… oh; I don't know what I was thinking."

Tonks looked into her mother's eyes before pulling her into an embrace.

"It's ok, Mum. Really, I'm me," Tonks laughed, trying to sound reassuring as her mom had stiffened as she hugged her.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, Nymphadora."

"I'm sorry Mum. I really didn't mean to; I would never, you know that. It's just, you see," Tonks hesitated and then said quickly, "I had a dream… about her."

Andromeda flared up, anger overtaking her shock.

Tonks noticed the changed expression in her mother's face and hurriedly changed the subject, "But, hey. Whatever happened to that rule we made about not waking me up before ten on my days off? It's only eight now. And I didn't get in 'till long after two."

Andromeda did not look abated, however. "I know. Your father and I both heard you come in."

Tonks shrugged with a smile. "I tripped."

"Well breakfast is ready if you want to eat before noon." She gave the untidy room a disparaging look. "And by the looks of your room, someone _could_ very well hide out without anyone ever finding them. Clean it up."

Tonksopened her mouth to protest, but with an irritated swish of her wand, Andromeda had sent the room into a whirlwind. Tonks stood in the midst of it, able only to admire her mother's spellwork as she watched her bedroom tidy up itself.

She looked into the mirror once more with a shiver, pushing the images from her dream out of her head. When Tonks left the safety of her room, regretful of her lack of sleep, she meandered into the kitchen. Her father looked around the room thoughtfully, as though wondering what to do without his morning paper. Tonks noted that it was, in fact, still tucked under her mother's arm as she cooked breakfast with her usual ease.

"Morning, Dora," he smiled pleasantly. "Come and sit with an old man. Haven't seen much of you lately; busy time at the Order?"

Tonks met her mother's stare as the latter stood, tight lipped, her hands on her hips.

Finally, Andromeda smacked the paper down on the table in front of him. Ted looked at her in a bemused sort of way until he picked up the paper.

He let out a little, "Ah. I see."

Tonks slid into the seat next to him, propping her feet on the edge of the table.

"Busy time indeed…" he muttered, his brow furrowed as he read past the front page.

Andromeda placed the breakfast on the table, but didn't sit down.

"Dromeda," Ted said as he chewed on a piece of toast, "Just eat breakfast 'for you get yourself into a state."

Andromeda's fingers twitched on the curtain as she looked out the window.

"Mum," Tonks chimed in carefully, "really… come away from that window."

Andromeda met her daughter's stare and they might have read each other's mind.

Ted looked at each of them in confusion, as if wondering what was being exchanged, before a look of dawning spread over his face.

"Oh come off it, Dromeda, you too, Dora. The thought of her barging in here is a little silly, don't you think?"

"No," they both replied quickly.

There was an uneasy silence as Ted poured himself another cup of coffee. Tonksbuttered her toast quietly as Andromeda sat down reluctantly.

She watched Tonks a moment before announcing curtly, "Nymphadora, I don't want you running around with the Order anymore. It's… too dangerous, now."

Tonks rolled her eyes; she had been fighting this battle far too long.

"Mum, this is exactly why I'm in the Order. To fight off dark witches and wizards," she said in exasperation. "And anyhow, it's you that's in danger, not me."

Andromeda raised an eyebrow, but before she could reply, Ted intervened, "Dora, be sensible; your mother's got a point. Maybe you should lie low for awhile."

Tonks shook her head. "Look, Mum, don't you think she'll want to find you? It's you she'll want to hurt, not-"

"No. She'll capture and torture you because she knows that will hurt me more," Andromeda snapped. "I think I know Bella a little better than you, Nymphadora."

She walked out of the kitchen quickly.

Tonks sat with her father looking highly disgruntled. There was an unspoken rule not to mention either name of Andromeda's sisters, but her mother had uttered her sister's childhood name, almost defensively.

Ted looked uncomfortable but continued to read the paper.

Tonks was not eager to let the subject drop, so she leaned in closer to her father and muttered, "I had a dream about her, last night. About Bellatrix, I mean."

Looking vaguely interested, Ted put his paper down and gestured for his daughter to continue.

"It was more of a memory, though, not a dream. About the day Mum and I ran into her in Diagon Alley when I was five."

Her father's usual jolly expression turned grim.

"Dora," he said softly, though the serious tone was not missed, "You've got to understand how hard this is for your mother. She was worried enough as it was when you joined the Order. If she thinks her deranged sister is on the hunt for you, your mum's liable to run out there and make sure she gets to Bellatrix before Bellatrix gets to you."

Tonks flushed with frustration.

"You talk to me like I'm a child. I may be clumsy, but I'm pretty decent in a duel, you know."

Her father shook his head. "Bellatrix is one of the best, Dora. And if you meet up with her, mark my word, you'll find no mercy."

Tonks frowned at him before leaving the kitchen. She felt restless and unsafe sitting around doing nothing. She thought that maybe she'd head over to Grimmauld Place to talk to Sirius about her mother. But as she walked down the hall, she heard muffled tears coming from the parlor.

"Mum?" she asked tentatively, standing in the doorway.

Her mom didn't answer but continued to cry quietly. Tonks walked up behind her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. In her lap was the picture Tonkshad happened upon the night before. Andromeda caught her daughter's gaze and looked up at her guiltily.

"Promise me that you'll be careful, dear," she whispered in a defeated sort of way.

Tonks nodded.

"That dream you had last night," Andromeda began carefully, "You… remember her, don't you."

Tonks didn't know how she could have forgotten that her aunt was one of the darkest witches in the world, but she merely nodded again.

Andromeda gestured for her daughter to sit next to her. Tonks put a reassuring arm around her mother's shoulder. In the process of propping her feet on the footstool, Tonks hit the leg of a lamp stand, sending the objects on top of it crashing to the floor. Her mother winced.

"My favorite vase?" she asked apprehensively.

"Um," Tonks replied, smiling awkwardly.

Her mother muttered a quiet "reparo" before pulling her daughter closer.

Tonks was silent as her mother sobbed into her shoulder, clutching her daughter's night shirt. The material was quickly soaked with her mother's tears, and Tonks was frightened to see her mom so broken. She patted her back clumsily before her mother wrapped Tonks in a protective hug.

Andromeda stroked the back of her daughter's head as she rested her own head on Tonks's shoulder.

"I just wish it could be different," Andromeda said in a weak whisper.

She looked regretfully at the picture; three happy Black sisters who had sworn they'd never be separated.

Tonks couldn't bear the obsessive look in her mother's eyes any longer. She reached down and slowly pried the frame from her mother's grip. Her mother sighed, but did not protest as Tonks placed it on the table.

Tonks took her mother by the shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"We're at war now, Mum."

Andromeda bit her lip and looked at her daughter imploringly, "My sisters, Nymphadora."

Tonks frowned, "I'm not asking you to take sides. I'm just asking that you don't let the past become the present."

Andromeda shook her head. "Of course not dear, I was only reminiscing. You're what matters now."

Tonks smiled sadly.

"I think," she added quietly, "that you remember Bellatrix a little bit more than I do."

Andromeda sighed, "As it should be."

Tonks kissed her mother's head before getting up from the sofa. She took the picture with her as she left the room. Tonks placed the picture back on the desk without looking at it; there was something poisonous about its contents.

Back in the kitchen she picked up the copy of the Daily Prophet from the table and unfolded it to gaze once more at the face of her aunt. The thought made her shudder. She let the paper drop back onto the table with a quiet thud. Tonks thought of her mother, and then hoped that she would never have to meet her aunt in the face of battle.

But something told her that she would not be that lucky.

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Author's Note:

Thanks for reading! Reviews are greatly appreciated. I tried to reveal a glimmer of the conflictions Andromedamight face as she watches her daughter fight her sisters. I don't know how well I managed Andromeda, so constructive reviews would really help. Also, I don't know if Tonks's dialogue was as believable as it might have been, an unexpected challenge I met along the way. Please send me your thoughts!


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